Ghosts of the Brickyard: Cyrus Patschke

This is the written version of the episode. If you’d like to listen, you can find the episode here.

Welcome back to Ghosts of the Brickyard. We are doing a ‘Minor Hauntings’. We will be discussing Cyrus Patschke in this episode. If you have never heard that name before, don’t feel bad. He is definitely a forgotten character.

He only participated in the first Indy 500. He was a relief driver for Marmon. He drove somewhere around 80 miles for Ray Harroun. It was a brilliant relief drive. He was able to drive David Bruce-Brown down and he really put Ray Harroun in the position to win.

You might be wondering then why is he such an obscure name? Why isn’t he listed as a winner? There were co-winners of the Indy 500 twice. Once in 1924 with Lora L. Corum and Joe Boyer. And then again in 1941 with Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose.

There’s two explanations as to why Cyrus Patschke doesn’t have his name in the record book next to Ray Harroun. The first is AAA rules. Now, to be clear, I have never found the actual rule books or anything. So I’m just going to tell you what I believe the rules were based off of the research that I’ve done. It is to my best knowledge that in AAA racing at this time and through at least 1924 – If you started a race, you are going to get credited with that finish, no matter who actually finished the race. 

An example of this would be in 1919, Joe Boyer took over a car that Gaston Chevrolet had started. And ultimately Joe Boyer drove that car to victory. However, in the record books, it is scored as Gaston Chevrolet’s victory, not Joe Boyer’s. So that was  the rule. If you started it, you got the credit. I don’t think that was revisited at all until the 1924 Indy 500. And – I mean, we will talk about Joe Boyer in future episodes when he becomes relevant. (If you’d like to get a head start on learning about Joe Boyer, I examined his life and death here) However, he had a lot of money. He was pretty influential.

And it was the first time that a relief driver had gotten into a car that won the Indy 500 and didn’t get back out. I don’t know if the AAA would have re-viewed these rules if a different driver had been the relief driver and that’s a whole other thing. ​​The other reason is that Ray Harroun got back into the car and finished the race. So I think that’s why he was not credited with the win. That was just not how it was scored. 

However, not to throw the Speedway under the bus, but I mean, the Speedway could retroactively recognize him and the other relief drivers. I don’t think they’re going to, but that’s kind of that. 

So who was Cyrus Patschke?

Cyrus Patschke was born on July 6th, 1889, that’s my birthday too, so it’s a good day to be born. 

His parents were Augustus Patchke, and Sarah E. Richard – she went by Sally. He had siblings – There was Gertrude, Bessie, Mary, Caroline. Cyrus was the second youngest. The youngest was a son named Frederick who died when he was six in 1897.

I was super fortunate when I was researching Cyrus to find that Lebanon, Pennsylvania which is where Cyrus was born and grew up and lived the majority of his life, had newspapers that were available online and they covered Cyrus’s racing career with great enthusiasm. And so I feel like we have a pretty accurate timeline of what he was doing.

I believe Cyrus’ love for cars probably started with his brother-in-law Eli Atwood, who was the president of a successful company and an early adopter of the automobile. By the age of 15, Cyrus was driving his brother-in-law’s cars.

The first time Cyrus competes in a motorsport event is June 1908. He was in a hill climb at the Giant Despair mountain and he won! He was driving an Acme car which Acme was a brass age motor car company that was around from 1903 to 1911. He goes on to win three events that were held on Jamaica Long Island. By September 1908, he is named relief driver for Lewis Strang, in a Brighton Beach 24 Hour Race. 

This is where I confess that I said something wrong in the 1911 Indy 500 lore episode. I mentioned that the 500 mile race would be the longest race ever held. I was wrong. This is what I get for just believing what the Speedway was saying when they were promoting this event. Brighton Beach was a one-mile dirt oval. And this is really what Cyrus becomes known for – these 24-hour races. 

He is a relief for Lewis Strang, who we will talk about in the next episode. They did well in the 24-hour race. Lewis raced for 18 hours and Cyrus was the relief for the last six. You have to remember Cyrus was 19 at this point.  

The Reading Times wrote of their participation in this race:

“The most sensational feature of the Brighton Beach race last Saturday was the driving of Cyrus Patschke, the changed driver who succeeded Lewis Strang in the seat of the Acme stock car, which participated. Strang drove well for 18 hours. He was handicapped by the breaking of a water pump during the early hours of the race which set the Acme back some 70 or 80 miles and made the fight an uphill one for him. The determination shown by the Briarcliff winner in keeping up the fast pace after being so far behind was certainly worthy of much commendation.”

Strang’s zeal, however, got him into difficulties, for he continued to hold the wheel against the protests of his friends until he was physically and nervously worn out. It was at this point, after 18 hours of continuous driving, that Strang released the wheel to Patschke, who is not yet 20 years of age. Young Patschke’s time during the six hours of his driving were as follows: 19th hour: 46 miles; 20th hour: 43 miles; 21st hour: 43 miles; 22nd hour: 44 miles; 23rd hour: 48 miles; 24th hour: 49 miles. Taking into consideration his youth and the fact that Patschke had never driven before on a track, even in practice, this showing was considered a little short of wonderful by the officials of the Acme company. It goes without saying that Patschke will be one of the drivers of any Acme car which may be entered in future races.” 

So he impressed immediately.

He goes on in October of 1908 to finish second in the Fairmount race, which was in Philadelphia. The Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly Report wrote about this. The headline is “Patschke runs his rival hard, comes in a close second in a great 200-mile auto race. Surprise for experts – Lebanon Lad was not looked on as likely to win among the Great Fairmount Park race contestants” 

Even though Cyrus was young, he was apparently a really smart driver.

His riding mechanic F.H. Dearborn told Times Herald that:

“We had to shut off dozens of times in each lap”, said Dearborn, and “Patschke took no chances, whatever. We let a number of cars go by us, knowing that they were running faster than the roads would allow. Later, we saw most of these cars by the roadside, and some of them were wrecks”. 

He does go to the Vanderbilt Cup, however his car breaks down in the second lap. He was replaced by an older driver for the American Grand Prize.

In the summer of 1909, he entered the Brighton Beach race for the end of July. He finished second to last. He entered in the August 1909 Brighton 24 race. He was involved in an accident that killed a driver and riding mechanic.

The Brooklyn Eagle covered the race and this is what happened in Cyrus’ own words:

“We had just come out of the paddock, said Patschke, and were beginning to develop speed in the shoulder of the course. A few more car lengths or less than a second’s ride would have brought us into the very turn of the road. My driving wheels were still straight when I heard a rumble so close to me that I looked to my right out of the tail of my eye. I saw the Stearn’s car come toward me at a slight angle.

It hit the forward part of my car, bending our front axle and knocking off the spring shaft. I gripped my wheel hard, but we went right ahead. The Stearn’s car was sheared off to the right, slid sideways for a foot or so, and then it turned over.”

“The track was in good condition, yes, sir,” continued Patschke in answer to a question. “It was in better shape than it was during the race in July.

No, there were no explosions indicative of a blowout or blow up. The loud reports that I heard were merely the closing of a throttle of some other car.

Arthur Maynard, the mechanic who rode with Patschke corroborated the driver’s statements and added that the road was in good condition.

“Your one object was to win the race and look out for number one, wasn’t it?” asked Coroner Brewer. 

“In order to win the race, the occupants of a racing car must look out for number one and for other people on the track. And in other cars,” replied the young mechanic, “because interference of any kind often means not only the loss of the race, but loss of life as well. The Stearn’s car coming up alongside us was trying to get the inner circle of the track where distance around is less. That would have been Grosse’s only reason for driving like that.”

In September of 1909, he seems to have left Acme. There was nothing really said about it but he was noted by newspapers to have signed to drive a Lozier at Brighton Beach which he did. He was Ralph Mulford’s relief driver. And he and Ralph won the 24 hour race. 

It seems that Cyrus originally was going to end his racing career there. In February of 1910, newspapers noted that he was going on a business trip in the interests of Lebanon Chainworks, and he was now connected to them. Remember, his brother-in-law is the president of Lebanon Chainworks.

However, on April 17th, 1910, it was announced that a Stearns owner by name of J.K.L. Rutherford had signed Ralph Mulford and Cyrus Patschke to drive in the May Brighton Beach race. The Daily News wrote an article about how his friends had believed that he had abandoned automobile driving. But like many racing drivers, it’s one of those things that was really hard to get out of once you were in. 

And so Cyrus was back in. They finished in second place He accepted a position at Wyckoff Church and Partridge, which was a car dealership in New York City and he had been retained by Stearns to race their cars. He wins a Brighton Beach 24-hour race with Al Poole in August of 1910.

Off track in September, he had an incident where he was driving in the middle of the night and he ran over and killed what he believed to be a highwayman that was going to rob him. He was exonerated from that. The following month, his father dies unexpectedly.  And so it sounds like he kind of stops driving.

He gets married to Millie Ricks in April of 1911. In early May, he was rumored to be one of the Benz drivers. He wasn’t though.

Something that I thought was really interesting was while I was researching this was that there were a few different stories about how Cyrus ended up driving for Marmon.

Gordon Kirby wrote in a Motorsport article is that the story went like this: 

“I told you when the season ended last year, I was through with competitive driving.” Harroun reminded Marmon. The argument went on for weeks.  Howard Marmon insisted, cajoled and pleaded with Ray to reconsider. Finally, Harroun made a provision, “In order for me to consider driving the Wasp. You’d have to sign the best relief driver in the world.” Harroun said, “Do that and I’ll take a crack at the 500.”

A few days later, Marmon walked into Harroun’s drafting office aimed with new ammunition. “I am now in a position to sign the best relief driver in the world,” Marmon stated, reminding Harroun of his promise. 

“And who would that be?”

“Cyrus Patschke,” Marmon replied, waving an envelope. “I have his letter right here, offering us his services.”

And then Al Bloemker. 

His story is,

“I know you’ve said that you are all through with racing,” Marmon said. “But I’d like you to drive the Wasp again in just this one race. I’m sure you could win with it.”

“No,” said Ray. “I’ve had enough. There’s no reason why Dawson can’t do it just as well with the Wasp as I would.” 

“I’ve been considering the possibility of building another car for Joe and entering both of you. Think about it for a few days before giving me a final answer.”

“500 miles is too far for anyone to drive at high speed,” said Harroun. “The fellows who try it will be so tired during the last 150 miles. They’ll be lucky to keep their cars off the wall.”

“I certainly agree with you,” said Marmon. “And I wouldn’t expect any man to go the full distance and win. But if you’re willing to drive the first 200 miles and the last 200 miles with a rest of an hour or so in between, I can get Cyrus Patschke to relieve you. He has a lot of road racing experience in the East.”

Not to say that didn’t happen. Obviously I don’t know how it actually happened. I don’t know if you remember the timeline for the Indy 500, the first Indy 500, but Ray was confirmed to race the Wasp before May started, I don’t think that Cyrus’s name would have been mentioned as being possibly in contention to drive one of the Benz a couple of weeks later.

Local newspapers don’t even mention that he’s going to be driving relief until May 27th, which is like three days before?

And one of the newspaper articles mentions that Cyrus was a last minute replacement. It says, “New York boy shares in the glory with Ray Harroun for having helped pilot the Marmon Wasp to victory. Cyrus Patschke, winner of many honors at the Brighton Beach track, came late in the week to join Harroun, whose relief driver was forced to quit, owing to parental objections.”

And like, no offense to Gordon Kirby or anybody else, it’s a nice story. I’m just a little skeptical. I know that everything wasn’t reported in newspapers, but I also think that a lot of motorsport history was, you know, like oral tradition. And I think people like to make things sound better. And so, you know, it’s not as cool to say that Cyrus Patschke, who was really instrumental in winning this first Indy 500 was not the first choice – a last minute addition.

So the Daily News of Lebanon, Pennsylvania wrote this article about the Indianapolis News’ praise of Cyrus Patschke. It says:

“In a “boss head story”, the Indianapolis News gives Patschke a large share of the praise for the victory of Harroun’s Wasp Car. The article recites that Patschke was in the employ of Wyckoff Church and Partridge automobile dealers of New York and took the car in charge on 80 miles of the trip as relief driver, thus giving Harroun the rest which he needed to win the race Patschke’s presence in the car was not noted at the time by the spectators for their driving garbs the drivers look pretty much alike But when it was known that the young Lebanonian had been a big factor in winning the race, was applauded everywhere.” The News continues, “Patchke’s 80 mile spin was one of the best exhibitions of fast driving ever seen on the Speedway. And when he stopped at the pit, the car had gained several laps and was well up in the bunch of winners. 

So, it was an impressive drive and he was only 21 at this point. He was really young.

After this Indy 500, Cyrus does go and drive races for Marmon. The high mark of the 1911 season was undoubtedly the Santa Monica Road race where he finished second in the free-for all. He ended up driving in the Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize for Marmon.  He didn’t finish either the Vanderbilt Cup or the Savannah Grand Prize.

Unfortunately Marmon pulls out of racing and a great what if would be what if Marmon had kept racing. Would we know Cyrus Patschke more now if they had kept racing? I think probably.

In the beginning of 1912, Cyrus purchased an interest in the Ideal Motor Car Company, which later became known as Stutz. He seemed to have really thrived as a businessman. He was really good at convincing businessmen that the automobile would improve their businesses. He ends up elected the vice president of the Ideal Motor Car Company.

Cyrus did return back to racing in 1914. Cyrus teamed up with his former teammate, Joe Dawson. I’d like to think that they had become friends during their time with Marmon and that friendship carried through. And Joe asked his buddy Cyrus if he would drive relief for him in the privately owned Marmon that he was going to drive in the 1914 Indy 500 and Cyrus agreed.  I don’t think Cyrus actually drove any relief in the 1914 Indy 500 because Joe Dawson was in a crash and was hurt.

Cyrus ended up driving the Marmon that Joe Dawson was driving in the Sioux City 300 mile sweepstakes over the 4th of July. 

I found this really sweet mention in an Indianapolis Star article from June 28th, 1914, and it talks about how Cyrus went to the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis to see Joe before he left for Iowa. And it says, “Tears came to Dawson’s eyes as he wished Patschke the best success and told him to win the race.”

One of the things that I really try to do when I’m researching is find the little pieces of like humanizing these drivers because they were people with emotions just like us and Joe Dawson at this point was – well both he and Cyrus were about the same age – both of them will turn 25 within a month of this article. And – spoiler alert I guess – Joe Dawson gets hurt in this 1914 Indy 500 in it, you know, essentially ends his career. And I just think about how hard that had to have been for him. This episode is not about him, I just think about his friend coming out of retirement to take his place in this race that he was supposed to race and how it was obviously an emotional thing for Joe.

And I think those are the things that, you know, that get lost or aren’t really acknowledged in motorsport history, even in later years. And so, I don’t know – it makes me emotional. 

He goes to Sioux City and he had spark plug issues in the lead up to the Sioux City race. However, he ended up being fastest in qualifying and originally he was scored as finishing fifth. However, there were scoring issues and that fifth was later corrected to a third place finish.

And this article in the Stevens Point Journal on July 6th, 1914, which also happens to be Cyrus’s 25th birthday, said, quote, Patschke, even after being injured by having his face cut by a flying stone, drove a magnificent race.

Wishart and Patschke drove wheel to wheel and many times bonnet to bonnet in an effort to get out front. Rickenbacker and Wishart were successful, but the handler of the Marmon dropped back due to spark plug trouble, which made him cut down his speed after he had turned faster laps than any other man on the course. Patschke’s finishing in fifth, which was actually third, was a demonstration of gameness as he was badly cut over the eye by a flying rock. With blood blurring the sight of one eye, he put his foot on the floorboard and took chances which made it appear as though he would go over the embankment at any time.

And so that was Cyrus, the last race that we know that Cyrus participated in. had been entered in Elgin road races. However, his wife convinced him to stop driving, which – I mean – I don’t blame her, especially if he had gotten hit over the eye. I also probably would really try hard to convince my husband to quit driving too. And so that really was the end of his racing career for real this time.

There was a brief rumor in 1915 that he would return for the Indy 500, however he did not.

In June of 1915, he was bought out from the Ideal Motor Company, and he uses that money (I’m assuming) to build a garage, which is at the corner of Cumberland and 11th. I’m pretty sure that the building is still standing. It looks like it’s a thrift store now, but he runs this garage and he is able to expand it. 

In 1919, Millie has their first child, which is a son named Cyrus Jr. He unfortunately dies a few months after he was born.

There was an automotive trade association of Lebanon that was established in 1919 and Cyrus was elected president of that. He had a son named Frederick that was born in 1920. His daughter Joan was born in 1922. He lives out the rest of his life in Lebanon.

Cyrus died at home on May 6, 1951. From his death certificate, appears that he had a heart attack

He was 62.

His obituary gives a lot of not true information about his racing career. And that’s fine, I guess. It says: 

“Cyrus R Patschke connected with the auto service station at 11th and Cumberland streets for more than four years. And in his youth, an auto racer who won distinction by his achievements in national competitions passed away suddenly Sunday noon at one o’clock in his apartment at 23 North 9th Street.

While he suffered from a heart condition for several years past, the malady at no time appeared to be serious. And he was at his place of business on Saturday, apparently in his normal health. The attack came on Sunday morning. He would have attained his 63rd birthday later this month. (Which is not true. His birthday was in July).

Patschke became interested in automobiles while he was still a boy. He had a real bent for racing cars and in the early nineties participated in the racing events at Fairmount park, which won him prominence. He achieved real fame, however, when he won a national championship at Indianapolis, Indiana in 1913. And the speed record he made there is still referred to in auto magazines. He figured in a number of auto racing events in that period.

He built an auto service station and repair shop at 11th and Cumberland streets more than 40 years ago. It was known as Patschke’s Garage. He became associated with a Harrisburg partner some years later and the place grew into a sale shop for auto parts. He was the major owner, in 1937 sold out to the E.S. Yowes Company of Reading, Pennsylvania. He became manager of the place and remained there ever since.

He was a member of the United States Power Squadron and was also affiliated with the Northeast Yacht Club, Maryland, at whose sailing stations he spent much time in summer vacation periods. He was also a member of the Royal Men’s Club of Lebanon and the Lincoln Republican Club. It says he is survived by his wife, Millie, a daughter, Miss Joan Hickey of East Hampstead, New York, and a son, Frederick R. Patschke of Baltimore. There are three grandchildren and a sister.

He was inducted into the central chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. He has two grandchildren who, if they’re listening to this, hello, that have spoken publicly about him and his career. As always, if you guys would like to reach out. have an email address on my website. I would love to talk to you.

So that’s Cyrus Patschke – He’s a really good example of why I really love to research this period of motorsports. You know, there were drivers who did make this a career, like Ralph DePalma is probably the biggest example. However, that really wasn’t as typical. So you’d have these, you know, guys who had raced for a little while and then they would just move on and do other things. I think Cyrus is a really good example of how talented drivers in this time period one of the reasons why they aren’t remembered is that their careers were so short. Even the ones that won big races, know, their careers were so short and so long ago that people don’t remember them. 

One of the motivators behind doing this podcast is to remind people about these drivers that raced so long ago and maybe start more conversations and remember them a little better. So that’s Cyrus Patschke. He was the relief driver for the car that won the first Indy 500.

Thanks for reading/listening! If you know something about Cyrus you’d like to share or otherwise have information related to the Indianapolis 500, you can contact me here. Additionally, if you’d like to know where I got a specific piece of information, please send me an email! I am always happy to share!